The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-08-20
BALLOON STORIES.
Philadelphia Times.

aeronautlcS than those Of King and Wise. Professor Samuel A. King is now in his sixtieth year. Since 1851 he has been practical aeronant, mak- ing his first ascension in the summer of that year from the old Geological Garden in Fairmount Park. Since then he has made 286 aerial voyages and great many lesser ascensions. His wife, who is quiet, modest little woman, has made number of ascen- sions with him, and regards ballooning much safer mode of travelling than carriage riding. She is afraid of horses, but doesn't mind taking jaunt through the air mile or so above the earth. In one of her trips she once had narrow escape. It was two years ago at Indianapolis. After re- markably pleasant ascension the bal loon in descending suddenly swayed when near the earth and caught in a dead tree. The sharp branch ripped the balloon open, causing it to collapse, and landing the basket in which she and her husband sat in a fork of the tree, sixty feet from the earth. As quick as thought Professor King braced the basket with rope, until he had cut the balloon away, then, dropping another rope to some farm hands, he loosened the basket and was lowered over limb to the earth.
 Neither he nor his wife received scratch.
 The only time he was ever hurt was in an ascension from Augusta, Ga. When he descended the balloon caught on dead pine and was torn. He at tempted to descend by the drag rope, when the balloon collapsed and came down with a crash, badly bruising, but otherwise not hurting him. Some of his voyages, however, have been ex- ceedingly perilous.
 On October IA, 1878, he went up from Scranton, got caught in wind storm and came down at Oak Station, Montgomery county, 40 miles from the starting point, the whole trip con- suming but two hours. On October 15, 1881, he made his memorable as- tension from Chicago with Hashagen of the signal service bureau. He was up nineteen hours, and descended in the Wisconsin wilderness, where he and his comrade lost their way and suffered terribly before they again came in coutact with civilization.
 One night he was suspended be- tween sky and earth for thirteen hours over the Maine and Canada wilderness. His experience that night was thrilling and remarkable. The ascension was made at p. m. at Ply mouth, N. II. his companion being Luther E. Holden of the Boston Journal. For six hours they hung over mile above the wilderness, the balloon not losing foot of gas or the car an ounce of ballast. When they landed the next morning they came down at the head of new railroad which was being constructed 250 miles below Quebec, near the Gulf oi St. Lawrence, over which they had spent portion of the night. The road was POO miles away from any other road or civilization, They rode to Quebec on a blackboard, driven by French Canadian. Mir. Holden always at tributed their lucky descent to an in- terposition of divine providence.
 In an ascension he made in August, 1875. from Burlington, Ia., he was was caught in thunderstorm, and came near being struck by lightning. The expansion of the air acted on the balloon and drove the gas from the neck on to his head, and through the open valve with terrific velocity. He had thrilling descent through the clouds, and on reaching the earth went crashing through trees, landing twelve miles from where he ascended, having been driven back by the storm. The whole trip consumed three- qu .rters of an hour.
 On the Fourth of July of the same year he took party of seven, includ- ing two bridal couples, over Lake Erie from Cleveland. The balloon sailed over the lake to Buffalo, where it struck back current and returned, passing Cleveland, gradually ap- preaching the Canada shore which it struck at Point au Pele. It then crossed strip of Canada and thirty 1 five miles of Lake St. Clair, landing StcfcA iHiitN iToHu I OIt I1uTOu dt LllNl- night, having made 480 miles in thir- teen hours.
 On another Fourth of July he took five newspaper men from Buffalo to Quinton, N. J. He crossed the Ale ghenies and followed the Susquehanna as far as Havre de Grace, took sharp turn and sailed due east across Della ware into New Jersey, the whole trip taking thirteen hours.
 Professor Charles Wise is the son of the late Professor John Wise, ST., who was lost while making an aerial voy- age. He made his first ascension thirty-seven years ago, when but thir- teen years of age, at Shannandale | Springs, w. Va. He went up two